My Son's Wedding Day

This is the first time I’ve shared about his wedding day. We were in a pandemic. I was too overwhelmed to blog.

Quinton proposed to his high school sweetheart, Laralee, a couple of weeks after he came home from finishing his 3rd year at Trinity Western University. A few months later, on August 8th, 2020, they tied the knot! (They’ve been together for eight years now.)

Remember, this was during a global pandemic… Every day was an adventure. We followed the ever-changing rules, and protocols, and adjusted the wedding accordingly. Five people… fifty people… ten people… one hundred people. Indoor. Outdoor. Food. No food. Food. The ups and downs experienced were enough to drive you batty.

My mantra came in handy… “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.” We can’t always control what happens in life, but we can control how we react to it. This was quite the lesson in being flexible!

The big day finally arrived, it was very sunny and very hot, a typical summer day in southwestern Ontario! The wedding took place outdoors on a friend’s farm. The reception was set up in the parking lot of our church. It’s amazing how creative they were in a pinch!

My husband has officiated dozens and dozens of weddings over the last 35 years. Dave was extremely excited and deeply honoured to be able to perform their ceremony. Everyone was prepared for his tears, we all knew – he knew – he wouldn’t make it far without reaching for tissue. He even joked that he would need a towel. But the truth is… I would never want him to change. Dave has an incredibly soft heart and isn’t afraid to show it.

The bane of my existence was the live stream!! There were plenty of friends and family who couldn’t make it. The camera equipment kept overheating and the feed kept dropping. My phone would only last for a few minutes before shutting down. I’m incredibly grateful my mom and her husband were able to fly in and join us.

Our dearest friends, Dr. Charles and Glory Kazumba prayed a blessing over the newlywed couple. Glory, who took my daughter-in-law Lara, my daughter Emma, and me, to her hometown of Arusha, Tanzania in 2018, finished up the prayer in Swahili.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day!

The fact that we could pull this off, with all the changes and crazy going on, in just a few months to boot, was an absolute miracle. Changing the parking lot of our church into an outdoor reception hall, blew my mind! Lara and her bridesmaids made almost everything from scratch. It was the best DIY wedding I’ve ever experienced.